In this lengthy travelogue, I had initially intended to discuss both my first trip to Egypt as well as my time in London; but I have yet to get through the Egypt portion. I find that the mere act detailing parts of my trials and travails through Cairo cause in me a sort of mental exhaustion, and so I had to take a break between my last post and this one. In regards to London, it probably doesn't matter anyways. Most folks have been to London, and, quite frankly, I probably shouldn't be publicizing my antics while living there anyways.
I did have one very great day in Alexandria with two of our students who were studying at the American University in Cairo. I cut a deal with them: I pay for everything, but they plan every portion of the day. The plan would not be a go unless one of them agreed to meet me at my hotel and escort me to the train station at the beginning of the day. In the brief time I had been in Cairo, I discovered that, by far, the most difficult thing was getting around. Walking was dangerous as it involved crossing the streets (see my previous blog post). Taking taxis was the most expedient and least expensive way of going. However, the day before our Alexandria trip, I had an experience that bears repeating. I had walked out of my hotel and down the road a bit to hail a taxi. When the gentlemen pulled over in what seemed to be perhaps a 1973 Fiat, I went to open the door and the door handle came off in my hand. I stood on the street, looking at it wonderingly, and not sure what to do. The taxi driver was getting frustrated with the time I was taking to enter the car, and he actually honked his horn at me, causing me to put the handle up to the window to show him. Upon seeing the handle in my hand, he uttered something in Arabic, which, if you read my other blog posts, you know I did not understand, got out and grabbed it from me, and then guided me to the other side of the car. During the rather harrowing ride, he politely made me an offer or two, which I refused and then, when we arrived to the site I had requested, he demanded that I pay him for the broken door handle as well as the fare. I exited the taxi, handed him 10 Egyptian pounds, which was more than double of what the fare should have been, (rolled up in a wad, as my students had instructed me) and started walking away rather briskly. He yelled after me, but I kept going. Seriously, was it MY fault his car broke?
Anyways, back to Alexandria. One of my students, Scott, gallantly agreed to meet me and escort me to the Ramses train station, where he and Brendan between them obtained some first class tickets to Alexandria. Travel is ridiculously inexpensive. I would recommend a first class ticket. There weren't any available for the return trip, and while it wasn't exceedingly uncomfortable, the door between the cars would not stay shut, and banged throughout the entire journey, causing every single one of us in the car to, at one point, get up and try to repair it (unsuccessfully). It drove us all nuts.
Nevertheless, we arrived in Alexandria, after what I remember to be about a two hour train ride. A word to the women--do NOT use the bathroom at the station. I was scarred for life. I have to say, the guys weren't too thrilled with whatever they witnessed on their side either.
Scott had planned out an excellent day for us and I was impressed at the research he did. First we went to have a look at some impressive Roman ruins at the Roman Theatre. It's a very well preserved amphitheater with a lot of really beautiful mosaic work. Alexandria passed from Greek to Roman rule about 80 BC, and, as you can see, the Romans knew how to build stuff to last.
Also on slate for the day was a trip to Pompey's Pillar, but first, LUNCH. I had a blast eating in Alexandria, because, frankly, it's cheap and you get a ton of food. Anyone who knows me knows I like a ton of food. We went to some local place and I don't have a clue what we ordered, but there were dishes of hummus, tahini, olives, and other things I can't name. I was a happy camper. I love dipping pita bread in stuff. I hope these guys don't mind me posting this photo.
Next, off to Pompey's Pillar. Why would we go all the way to Alexandria to see a pillar? Quite frankly because it's MASSIVE. It's a 25 meter high red granite structure. For those of us who have not mastered the metric system, 25m = 82 feet roughly. Yes, it's big and the diameter isn't anything to scoff at either. It's estimated to weight about 285 tons and is one of the largest monolithic columns ever constructed. I will put pictorial proof below. You can see the little teeny guys at the base. Those are my students. The pillar, by the way, is the largest structure in Alexandria. The column is actually a Corinthian column dating back to about 297 AD. I'll save the history lesson for later.
Alexandria has a surprisingly great museum called the Alexandria National Museum. I say that because of my experience in the Egyptian National Museum in Cairo. In my other blog I noted that, while the contents of the latter museum are beyond belief, the building itself was getting pretty shabby; and it was way overcrowded with so many artifacts that many weren't labelled, but rather, shoved in a dusty corner. The Alexandria National Museum is relatively new. NOTE: don't miss the mummies in the basement. Remember my previous advice: if you're not going to see mummies, don't go to Egypt, because how could you live with yourself when you have to admit to your friends that you went to Egypt and didn't see mummies! The museum details the history of Alexandria from the Pharaonic, Greco-Roman, Coptic and Islam periods. It has some really fabulous artifacts--the one below from the Roman era:
From there we went to see one of the coolest things ever: The Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa. Sadly, they confiscated my camera, as they don't allow photos, and so I have no pictures. Catacombs are always creepy and therefore you should not miss this opportunity. It was used as a grave site from the 1st-4th century AD but wasn't discovered until 1900 or so when a donkey cart fell into it. I bet the ass was pretty creeped out by falling in a necropolis! Anyways, I had to steal this photo from the internet of the banquet hall in the catacombs. Mourners actually went down there and sat around and feasted. Hmmmm, not my thing really, as I can't imagine sustaining an appetite at a grave site, but here you go:
We then dashed off to the Citadel, but sadly did not get there in time to enter. The Citadel, of course, guards Alexandria from sea attack and it's incredibly picturesque, and therefore, I took an incredible amount of pictures. The Qaitbay Citadel is erected on the same site as the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which was, we all know, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Lighthouse is no more, sadly. The fort was build in the 15th century by Mameluke Sultan Qaitbay to defend against those crazy Turks. Now, it's just a very cool tourist attraction.
And as the Citadel is on the shores, I couldn't resist some photos of the sea:
From there we went for one of the best seafood meals I ever had at a place called Samakmak. It's owned by the premiere (retired) Egyptian belly dancer in town. When you walk in, they want you to pick your sea bass off of the platter so they can prepare it. I preferred to let them do it for me. And then the food comes, and comes, and comes. The best part, for me was the seafood tangen which was a stew loaded with crab, crawfish and all sorts of other shellfish. It was amazing. As for the sea bass, it might possibly be the best I ever had. I would argue it certainly was the freshest. And, in the end, it was by far the least expensive amazing seafood meal I ever ate. I can't even remember all the food they brought us, but the tally for three of us was less than $35 total. I have a hard time ordering sea bass and a drink anywhere here and getting out for less than that, just for myself. This was for three of us, and I was full before the main meal came. So, I'm high on Smakmak. Everyone will tell you to eat at the Fish Market, which shows up in all the guide books. We couldn't find it, but in the end, I was happy we didn't.
All in all, a big thumbs up for Alexandria. It's a lot less overwhelming than Cairo, but still contains some amazing and interesting things to see. The air is much cleaner (where ISN'T the air much cleaner?) and it has the advantage of a beautiful location on the Mediterranean. I found that I wasn't harassed as much, and it was a much more relaxing place to be.
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